With its vivid poetry and technical ingenuity, Vivaldi’s 'Four Seasons' was ground-breaking at the time of its composition and to this day remains as influential and transfixing as ever. In this recording, violinist Kati Debretzeni directs the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment based on the energetic, historically-informed performances given last February when, with renowned choreographer Henri Oguike, the OAE fused authentic performance with contemporary choreography.

The booklet includes a ‘Guided tour of the Four Seasons’, allowing listeners to follow the poetry that inspired Vivaldi as they hear the performances on the disc, including additional composer’s notes from Vivaldi’s own scores. Born in Transylvania, Kati Debretzeni studied with Ora Shiran and Baroque violin with Catherine Mackintosh and Walter Reiter at the Royal College of Music in London. Since the year 2000 she has led the English Baroque Soloists under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and since 2008 is one of the leaders of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, which she has directed and lead in the UK, Europe and the US. Kati features as soloist on two versions of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos, with the European Brandenburg Ensemble under Trevor Pinnock (Gramophone Award, 2008), and again with the English Baroque Soloists. She has directed from the violin various ensembles in Israel, Poland, Norway, Iceland and the UK, and teaches the Baroque and Classical violin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague.

Video clips on the OAE's website [and vimeo] of 'V4 Seasoned': http://www.oae.co.uk/event/four-seasons/.